


A Different Path

by Miyanoai



Series: ShuAke Confidant Week [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Interrogation Room Scene, M/M, ShuAke Confidant Week, What Ifs, it's not as dramatic as it seems tbh, spoilers for November 20th
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 21:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16457447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miyanoai/pseuds/Miyanoai
Summary: Something went wrong. The plan failed. Either Sae didn’t show him the phone like she said she would or Futaba’s app didn’t work or the timing was off or something. Something enabled Goro Akechi to be there in front of him instead of his cognitive self in Sae’s palace. And so it would be his actual self who would be dying.Shuake Confidant Week: Day 1: Foil/Antithesis





	A Different Path

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, my first Persona 5 fic. To be honest, I'm not fully proud of this, but it was a last minute idea for day 1 of Shuake Confidant Week. Most of the rest should be of slightly better quality.

The fluorescent lights in the ceiling flickered, adding to the dimness of the already low lit room. Ren wouldn’t have been surprised if he came out of it actually needing glasses due to the strain on his eyes that it caused. Of course, that was the least of his concerns at the moment. 

 

His whole body ached. It was a miracle he was able to get through telling Sae his story with both the drugs in his system and the beatings he had just endured without passing out. Though he did come close a few times. But he managed to succeed and convince Sae to take his phone. She’d show it to Akechi and he’d enter the cognitive world and kill his cognitive self. Ren’s only job now was to wait and hold out for Sae to come back and let him out, and then he could finally rest.

 

Minutes past, he wasn’t sure exactly how many, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally heard footsteps outside the door.

 

Only to stifle on it when he heard the voice that belonged to those footsteps. It wasn’t Sae. But it was familiar, incredibly so. The voice he’d gotten accustomed to, attached to though he shouldn’t have had, but that he really  _ really  _ didn’t want to hear right now.

 

The door opened and Ren held his breath, his eyes widening as the guard from outside walked in, followed by the person he wasn’t supposed to see.

 

Something went wrong. The plan failed. Either Sae didn’t show him the phone like she said she would or Futaba’s app didn’t work or the timing was off or  _ something. _ Something enabled Goro Akechi to be there in front of him instead of his cognitive self in Sae’s palace. And so it would be his actual self who would be dying.

 

He sat frozen as he watched Akechi grab the guard’s gun and smacked it against the owner’s head so hard, it knocked him out. He shuddered with dread as the same gun was aimed straight as his forehead. 

 

“Are you surprised that I’m here?” he asked slowly, the question obviously rhetorical. “I felt something off when Sae-san showed me that phone. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have even noticed the shift in worlds. I’ve gotten so used to it. I must admit, you’re incredibly bold to attempt such a risky plan like this. Was it your idea?”

 

Ren stayed quiet. There was no point in answering if he’d be dead soon. He didn’t understand why Akechi was rambling on like this instead of just getting it over with. Was he toying with him? Was he really that cruel? He wanted to believe that some part of him that he’d gotten to know over the past few months had been genuine.

 

“Or perhaps your friends were just that willing to offer you to the stake. It certainly seems a convoluted enough plan to be Nijima’s perhaps.”

 

“It was my choice.” Ren blurted out, not wanting him to cross into the territory of trash talking his friends. “What do you care? It didn’t work anyway, so you should be pleased. I’m sure you don’t have time to be dragging it out.” 

 

He swallowed hard as he spoke, his skin starting to perspire from his nerves. His anxiety was jumbling his thoughts but now he realized he should have let him keep speaking. Maybe he could have found another way out in the meantime. Why did he not think of other solutions for other outcomes instead of fully relying on this plot?

 

“I am pleased it didn’t work, but not for the reason you may think. You all probably believed I was here to kill you, and yes, that was the official plan of whom I was working for. However, luckily for you, I happen to have my own agenda.” Ren blinked as the implication of his words as the gun was lowered.

 

“It would have only made things more complicated if your plan had been carried out successfully.” he continued as he walked around Ren’s chair. Ren eyed him carefully, not making any sudden movements as Akechi still had the gun in his hand, until he watched him tuck it away in his coat. 

 

“Can you stand on your own?” he narrowed his eyes in confusion but attempted to pull himself up anyway. If he wasn’t going to die just yet, he needed to assess his options of escape. 

 

Unfortunately the time it took to tell Sae everything hadn’t been enough to for the drugs to stop working and he immediately felt dizzy. He would have fallen over if not for the arms that wrapped themselves around him. He relaxed, though he shouldn’t have, and leaned his head against the shoulder next to him, though he shouldn’t have. It felt nice… though it shouldn’t have. 

 

This was the person who betrayed them. Whom he heard was plotting to kill him right out of his own mouth. Who supposedly was lying to them from the very beginning. And yet…

 

“We have to get going. That guard will wake up soon and they’ll be coming to discover the body. I have damage control ready but I need to get you out first.”

 

He was also still a teammate if only temporary. A fascinating rival. A puzzle all on his own that Ren had wanted to decipher. Someone he felt a connection to for some reason that he wanted to get to know and trust. This was his chance to try that again, despite what the others may think.

 

He moved his feet forward as he felt himself get pulled toward the exit, only vaguely hearing Sae reappear and vocalize her own shock and confusion at the situation. Her arrival was convenient though, as they now had a car to escape in without the need for more lies. 

 

Once they had settled in the backseat of her car, on their way back to LeBlanc, Ren allowed himself to fully rest. Their plan had failed, completely unraveled before him. Not to mention Akechi still had a hell of a lot to answer for and couldn’t be trusted just yet. But weirdly enough, he was relieved.

 

There was still a chance that maybe they could work together once more. That maybe their goals were not so different and that they could surpass their duality. For what exactly? He was too tired to think of it for the moment. Only that he knew they would definitely be stronger united than against each other. As Akechi once said, there was no thesis without antithesis. Perhaps he realized one of them couldn’t possibly be without the other in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Now let's hope we can keep both of them alive in this AU. :'D


End file.
